Term 3 should be renamed “The Camp Term”. Both campuses have a number of year levels out for varying amounts of time. I am very proud of the camp program at the College. It is hands-down the most significant feedback I receive from students at graduation when they are asked what they enjoyed most at the College. This to me simply affirms the value that camps have in the school calendar, and the important role they play in a holistic education.

Getting outside and moving reminds me of a devotion prepared by Darren Pope, who is part of the team at Lutheran Education Queensland. Darren wrote the following:

God created us to move! Heel, then toe is the way we were designed to move. Unable to look directly behind us and the difficulty experienced in walking backwards, highlight that the rhythm of heel-toe keeps us walking and moving forwards. Walking allows us to move at a slower pace, to observe, notice and take in situations and our surroundings. Whilst customary, amidst the daily demands of His ministry, Jesus often walked. Despite large demanding crowds, we don’t become aware of Jesus rushing or running, rather sharing time with people, walking with them, listening and teaching. Jesus comes to us.

In coming to us, it is always God’s work. He walks with us each day, through Christ. In Luke 24, Jesus comes to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and in Mark we encounter Jesus coming to the disciples across the lake. The advent of a new week brings a refreshed opportunity and challenge to walk. Time makes demands of us—there is often the pressure to rush, to respond now, to get it done and to hurry up. These are all real and present challenges as we walk forward. Jesus reminds us to walk His way, to slow down as He comes to us and joins us on our journey, and in the daily journey of each person we encounter.

God’s blessings to you as we near the end of term.

Phil Hulland
Head of College

Intention to Leave Notifications

To assist with our 2020 classroom planning, if you intend to leave the College we ask if you can please notify us in writing before Tuesday 8 October 2019. In doing so, it will allow the College to contact families currently on our waiting lists in Term 4, whilst also ensuring that you meet your contractual obligations.

Please contact your Head of Campus or Donna Cook, Marketing and Enrolments Manager, if you have any questions.

Parenting Fearlessly

Raising children in this day and age can be a very stressful situation. Firstly, there are the many pathways we can choose to follow with our children and no shortage of people with opinions, often very strong ones, on which pathway is best. Then there are the schooling choices, diet choices, to use or not use technology, and many more. Then there are the risks of life that can come our way when parenting, or worse still, the complete lack of control that we seem to have sometimes over our child’s future. These pressures and fears can be crippling if faced from the position that we can only achieve or overcome these challenges alone.

The fear of parenting ‘well’ can also lead to issues of over-parenting or under-parenting. These are those parenting situations where we try to micro-manage every possible outcome for our child to avoid them facing challenges or having to problem solve on their own. Alternatively, fear of parenting with a little more assertiveness could also lead to us feeling paralysed because we are worried that if we make a decision, it may not be the right one—or worse still, my child won’t like me!

Instead of fear, God longs for us to see each of our parenting choices through the lens of His love, His power, and through self-discipline. In 2 Timothy 1:7, we are called to throw off our chains of fear and timidity, and live our lives with the empowering gifts of His Spirit.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7

So how do we alter our parenting practises from those driven by crippling fear, to those lived fearlessly in God’s love? One author suggests three steps we could take to help us set an example of fearless living for our children and each other:

Live in the steadfastness of God’s love. Make sure your children know the power they possess in their lives because of who lives in them. There is a peace, courage and reassurance from living in Christ’s love.

Teach your kids how to love others well. As parents, we are their greatest example of loving well. Show your children how to love when you are hurt, how to love when circumstances are tough, and how to love the unlovable.

Hand over more responsibility to your children to show them that you believe what you are saying. Help them see that they are strong, they are powerful, and they are God’s own. They can achieve in life, stretch themselves in challenges, stumble at times and get back up. They will grow stronger through adversity and will achieve all of these things if they are grounded in God’s promises for them.

Fearless Parenting takes guts. To stand back that very first time and let your child struggle through a situation is not easy, but it is essential. When our children live with fearless parents who love them unconditionally, believe in their ability to overcome, set an example of joyful living, with all things underpinned by God’s reassurance of His love, power and self-discipline in our loves—then truly miraculous things can happen. I don’t know about you, but that is a world I want to live in.

Blessings to you all as we parent fearlessly together.

Mrs V xox

Father’s Day Thanks!

Well, another Father’s Day has come and gone. Our Dads have been well and truly spoilt by the amazing hand-chosen gifts from our students. As always, these special moments could not have been made possible without the efforts of a dedicated group of parents. Peta Lilly and her team of dedicated volunteers have yet again excelled in delivering an outstanding variety and quality in the products they assembled for our Father’s Day stall. We are very grateful for all that you do for our community.

Teacher Aide Appreciation Week 2019

Monday 2 September to Friday 6 September is Teacher Aide Appreciation Week. This is an opportunity to show our gratitude to the special staff members who constantly work behind the scenes with our staff and students to help bring about the best results possible for each and every child. Without their dedication and efforts, we would be truly lost.

It is our prayer that their continued efforts would be richly blessed by God.

Please join me in thanking them all for their dedication to Prince of Peace Lutheran College.

Katrina ValenciaHead of Junior Campus

Tip 4–Lead by Example

You don’t have to force children to do it, but you can model ways to a healthier and happier life.

For example, expressing gratitude. When things are going poorly, you can simply stop, express gratitude and ask others to join in. Gratitude doesn’t have to always be for the big stuff, but sometimes it’s the everyday things that can brighten your day. Draw it, say it or make a game of it—there are so many ways to express gratitude and feel better.

If you have a meditation routine, you can ask your children to join in. Or simply stop and appreciate the moment together.

As James Lehman said, “Your kids watch you for a living. It’s their job; its what they do.”

Let them see you modeling a life of gratitude and allow them to join you in the journey.

What did you model for your child today?

Anne-Marie SchmidtDeputy Head of Junior Campus

Senior Campus News

Have a Nice Day

Our second mural has been completed, and reminds us of our 10 core values. Prior to the painting, a PC class had written the greeting “have a nice day” on the wall in chalk several years ago. We managed to keep that greeting—it symbolizes what we hope for our community each day. It is a reminder to keep smiling and to continue to embrace challenge.

One group that have embraced challenge is Mt Binga Group 1 who came home on Saturday.

It was a privilege to be present, along with their families to listen as Group 1 shared their highlights and explained how they have grown during their three weeks. The students shared how they have grown in relationship, how they have confronted their fears, how they have grown in appreciation of what they have at home and how they have grown physically, emotionally and spiritually. Group 2 headed off on Monday. We wish them a life changing experience also.

Our Year 12 students have sat the Queensland Core Skills Test this week and they have felt the support of our community. We thank the Prince of Peace Church and the Year 12 PreVocational Class for their efforts in ensuring that the students were well fed. This is a historic moment, as this is the last time students will sit the Core Skills, as the new SATE has introduced external exams.

Father’s Day on Sunday was an opportunity to tell our Father’s and Grandfather’s how much we appreciate him. We give thanks for their love, encouragement and wisdom. Thank you for caring, your tolerance and all the dad jokes. We celebrate all our wonderful father figures.

In worship last week, we were reminded about how blessed we are with abundance at Prince of Peace. We were made aware of the treacherous journey that children as young as six from Atuler village in Sichuan province have, needing to scale a huge rockface using rickety ladders to go to school.You can watch the video here. This sentiment was shared by the students returning from Binga. As we reflect on how grateful we are for all our blessings, let us remember how desperately we need rain. The drive to Binga was very dry, and we were asked by the team at Mt Binga Outdoor Education Centre to pray for rain.

Dear Heavenly Father, please bless our land with abundant rain over the next few months to break the drought that is breaking the hearts of farmers and their families. Help us to live lightly on our earth and recognise how blessed we are. Amen

Michelle Nisbet
Head of Senior Campus

Sports Score

Senior Campus Sport

It has been a busy two weeks in sport at PoP with students competing in state and national competitions, regional athletics, and the CSSAQ soccer carnival taking place.

Jonas Forbes-Schutz ran at the National Cross Country event and had a remarkable run. Despite battling a hamstring injury for three weeks leading up to the event, Jonas managed to come in at 11th place for the 14 year boys age group.

Charlotte Stephens has been competing in interschool equestrian competitions throughout the year. She has been selected to represent Queensland at the Australian Interschool Championships in Sydney for Medium Dressage and Medium Freestyle events. Good luck Charlotte!

Prince of Peace sent a junior boys and junior girls team away to the CSSAQ (Christian School Sport Association Queensland) soccer tournament. This is a competitive one day event which is run for a variety of sports throughout the year. The event hosts teams from Christian schools right throughout Brisbane and is extremely competitive. The girls had an incredible day and managed to come in third place, missing out on the grand final by one point. The boys had a great day and were close to pulling off a few big upsets. They played extremely well and finished up in fourth place overall. We look forward to training with both teams leading up to the competition next year.

We had a number of students attend the 2019 Regional Athletics Carnival and putting in a huge effort to record some incredible results. Well done to all students who participated and a special congratulations to Heidi Noon, Jonas Forbes-Schutz and Mattias Forbes-Schutz on their qualification to the State Athletics Carnival.

Tim Arnold
Senior Campus Sport Coordinator

Music and the Arts

Junior Campus Music News

Senior Choir: Visitors from Zion Lutheran Home will join with the Junior Campus Senior Choir and present a concert this Friday 6 September. Commencing at 1:45pm in the Chapel. All are welcome to attend. Choir students are to bring their performance uniform with them and change at lunch time

Senior Campus Music News

Mrs Cudney and Junior Campus music are hosting a fundraiser carols evening on Saturday 23 November at the Junior Campus. Big Band and Senior Campus Choir have been invited to perform and this information has gone home to the relevant families. Please save the date for this lovely musical end to the year as a College.

Year 8 Musical, 13 and 14 September, Prince of Peace Church Junior Campus

Our Year 8 cohort will bring us their production of The Circus on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 of September, 6pm both evenings, at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. Families of participating students have been sent all relevant information by email. Tickets are available for purchase through the ‘Make a Payment’ link on our website home page, or at Senior Campus Reception with the printed order form from the email and cash, or there will be a limited number of tickets at the door on the evenings of the performances. We hope that our current Year 12 cohort will come along to be part of The Circus once again as they reminisce about their production in 2015.

Grandparents’ Day Performances

The College looks forward to once again hosting Grandparents’ Day on Friday the 20 September. Some of our music ensembles and students will once again provide some entertainment as part of the morning tea on Senior Campus. Senior Campus Choir, the cast of the Year 8 Musical and the cast of Mary Poppins 2019 have all been asked to be involved. We look forward to grandparents and other invitees enjoying these performances.

Piano Tuition Places Available

Ms Hansen has some available tutoring space for piano on the Senior Campus on Mondays in Term 4. Please contact me at the College if you would like further information, rharvey@princeofpeace.qld.edu.au

Thought for the Week“Loss is like a closed road that forces us to turn around and find another way to our destination. Who knows what we will discover and see along the way.” (Gerald Sittser)

Community News and Notices

Uniform Shop News

Orders: Orders can be placed by phone or email through the College website using the link on the Uniform Shop Page or on the Home Page, or at anytime from The School Locker Website. Note: If you wish to avoid home delivery fees during term times, nominate delivery to your child’s campus and provide your child’s name and class. Junior Campus orders will be delivered to your child’s class. Senior Campus orders will be delivered to reception for your child to collect the next day.

New: Kazoos and pencil grips in a range of colours are now available at the uniform shop—they would make great party favours or homework rewards.

Student Advantage Members: Log in online http://www.theschoollocker.com.au to see this months member specials. If you haven’t already signed up you can register online or come in to the campus shop—monthly specials available to members and benefit Prince of Peace with rebates every time you purchase. Just mention you are a member.

Second Hand: If you wish to buy or sell second hand uniforms there are two options:

Donated second hand uniforms are now managed by PoP P&F – please check with Reception as to upcoming stall dates. Donations are welcome at either Campus Reception, bagged and labelled as “donation uniforms”.

P & F

I would like to take the time to say a very big thank you to everyone from the Senior Campus who helped make the fete a great success. From the Year 10 students who helped set up, to the parents working on the stalls and to Mr Hulland and Ms Nisbet for all working tirelessly to help make the fete a great success…

With the figures now in we raised in excess of $25,000—what a fabulous result! Congratulations to everyone involved.

The next P & F meeting will be held on Wednesday 18 September at 7pm in the Junior Campus Library.